World News - Lots of evidence that state controller broke law, investigator says

In a report released Sat by Gov. George Pataki, a legal adviser said there is a case for removing embattled Comptroller Alan Hevesi from office but he needs more time to review the case before he could recommend removal proceedings. "It is my view that there is a valid legal basis for a recommendation to the Senate that the comptroller be removed & that aggravating circumstances of his conduct may very well warrant his removal from office," attorney David Kelley said in a report Pataki, released 3 days before Hevesi faces challenger J. Christopher Callaghan, a Republican, at the polls. "Nevertheless, without knowing the procedures the Senate will employ to hear the evidence, & until I have the opportunity to personally assess the witnesses & evidence I do not feel that I am now in a position to advise you to proceed with a recommendation to the Senate for the comptroller's removal.” If he broke the Law Jail him, we are tried of these SOBs getting just a slap on the wrist ... http://www.usatoday.com

A suspected terrorist who spent years in a secret CIA prison should not be allowed to speak to a civilian attorney, the Bush admin argues, because he could reveal the agency's closely guarded interrogation techniques. Human rights groups have questioned the CIA's methods for questioning suspects, especially following the passage of a bill last month that authorized the use of harsh but undefined interrogation tactics. In recently filed court documents, the Justice Dept said those methods, along with the locations of the CIA's network of prisons, are among the nation's most sensitive secrets. Prisoners who spent time in those prisons should not be allowed to disclose that information, even to a lawyer, the government said. What a bunch of crap, what they don’t want revealed is they used torture, and everyone involved in this sorry mess including up to our Village Idiot who likes to call himself the Commander in Chief trashed the Constitution. Is that a National Secret? ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/04/national/main2153262.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2153262

NATO troops fought suspected Taliban insurgents northeast of Kabul on Saturday, Afghan and NATO officials said, in the first major encounter in the area since the strict Islamist group's government was ousted in 2001.NATO officials said the clash in the Tagab valley, 70 km (45 miles) from the capital, erupted after an alliance convoy was attacked while hunting insurgents in the area, just east of the main U.S. base at Bagram airfield. No further details were immediately available. Speaking from a secret location, a Taliban spokesman said militants destroyed several NATO vehicles in the twisting valley, where rebel activity has picked up in recent weeks for the first time since a U.S.-led coalition overthrew the Taliban. NATO officials did not confirm the Taliban report. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2628805

Thousands of people took to the streets across Taiwan on Saturday to demand President Chen Shui-bian's resignation over a corruption scandal that could land his wife in prison.Some 6,000 people marched in the southern city of Kaohsiung a day after prosecutors indicted Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, and three presidential aides on embezzlement, forgery and perjury charges. Wu was accused of siphoning $450,000 from a special diplomacy fund between 2002 and 2006.Prosecutors said there was a strong possibility Chen would also be indicted after leaving office. Under Taiwanese law, a sitting president is immune from such charges.Chen's Democratic Progressive Party demanded that the president explain himself within three days, and his spokesman, David Lee, said the president would face the public within two. Lee declined to discuss the content of Chen's planned speech, saying it was still being drafted....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-04-taiwan_x.htm?csp=34

There was a quiet start to another day in the desert, but the afternoon brought another fire-fight, the second in two days and this one even closer than the first. The Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade are pushing out into southern Helmand province, trying to get a feel for the Taleban - how much of a threat they are and in which areas, and our three-man crew is with them. There were reports of thousands of refugees being forced out of the towns where fighting has been the most intense, but today the intelligence proved to be wrong. The patrol came across people living in tents outside the town with families and animals in tow, but with the help of a translator, the troop commander discovered they were nomadic Kuchis and knew little about the Taleban. The patrol medic is David Blades, 26, and his job isn't just to help his own colleagues, but assist the local people however he can. So after chatting about the fighting, ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6109076.stm

Israeli forces have mounted a series of air strikes as part of an on-going Gaza offensive, killing at least eight. The strikes bring the number of those killed since Wednesday to at least 39. A top Hamas militant is among the dead. The violence comes after at least 17 people were killed in a single day on Friday, including two women shot during the siege of a mosque in Beit Hanoun. Israel says its operation, one of the largest since the Gaza pull-out targets militants behind rocket attacks. But Palestinian officials have accused Israel of carrying out a "massacre". Virtual curfew A government spokesman said the offensive would not help Israel achieve stability in the region and called on the international community to intervene. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6115950.stm